FA COMPETITIONS: THE DRAWS

The draws for the early rounds of the Emirates FA Cup and Buildbase FA Vase have been announced by The FA this afternoon.

In the Emirates FA Cup Ashington have been drawn at home to last years Northern Counties East League Division One Champions Knaresborough Town. Knaresborough who will begin their first ever season in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division in August have only competed in the FA Cup during the 2014-15 season previously, where they defeated fellow NCEL club Glasshoughton Welfare in the Extra Preliminary Round Qualifying before bowing out of the competition in the Preliminary Round Qualifying at home to West Allotment Celtic. The tie will be played on Saturday 11th August.

The winners of this match will then have a home tie in the next round against the winners of Glasshoughton Welfare and Blyth AFC which will be played on Saturday 25th August. For Blyth AFC, this will be their first ever season in the FA Cup. Glasshoughton who finished 6th in the NCEL Division One last season have competed in the competition most seasons since 1985 have progressed as far as the third qualifying round previously.

In the Buildbase FA Vase First Round Qualifying to be played on Saturday September 1st, Ashington have received a bye and will start their FA Vase journey on Saturday 15th September at home to the winners of Crook Town v. Blyth AFC. Crook who finished 12th in the Northern League Second Division last year have had an unfortunate run in recent years going out of the competition in thier first match. Their greatest success in the competition came in 2005/06 when they reached the quarter final before losing 1-0 at home to Bury Town. Blyth AFC will be competing for the third time, thier first season in the competition did not start well with a home defeat to Ryton and Crawcrrok Albion in the First Round Qualifying. Last season they went one better defeating West Allotment at South Newsham Playing Fields before losing 3-2 away to Whickham FC whom they were promoted alongside at the end of the season.

The draw for games involving Northern League sides can be found on the Northern League website: